ICTR Prosecutor Calls for Life Sentences for Former Military Comanders

Arusha — Prosecution at the Arusha based, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), on Wednesday, requested a life imprisonment sentence for each of the four former military officers appearing in a collective trial code-named “Military II”.

The former officers are; Gen. Augustin Bizimungu former army chief of staff, and former chief of the gendarmerie Gen. Augustin Ndindiliyimana.

Others are; former commander of the reconnaissance battalion, Major François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye and Captain Innocent Sagahutu, who commanded one of the squadrons of the unit.

All the four are accused of Genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. While submitting the prosecution’s closing arguments, prosecutor Alphonse Van stated that the four accused played an instrumental role in planning and carrying out killings during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.

Van further argued that after a meeting chaired by Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, in April 1994 after the downing of the plane carrying former President Juvenal Habyarimana, the four officers had an upper hand in the massacre of former Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana.